The math professor’s goals for classroom honesty and accurate student

Question

The math professor’s goals for classroom honesty and accurate student assessment were founded upon his belief that the fear of punishment and corresponding loss of privileges would make students think twice or even three times before cheating on exams, thus virtually eliminating cheating in his classroom. In order for this atmosphere to prevail, the students had to believe that the consequences for cheating were severe and that the professor had the means to discover cheaters and enforce the punishment against them.

If the statements contained in the preceding passage are true, which one of the following can be properly inferred?

(A) A student would only be deterred from cheating if he knew he would be discovered and punished.

(B) A student will not cheat on an exam if he feels he is well prepared for the exam.

(C) A student who cheats on an exam believes that he will not be able to pass the exam without cheating.

(D) If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.

(E) If the professor wants never to have an incident of cheating in his classroom, his policy on cheating must be stronger than any other professor’s policy on cheating.

mandyrhtdm · Answer

The answer is D.

If students don't know that they will be ducked if they cheat then they will continue to cheat.

methevoid · Answer

(A) talks about "A Student" in general, and not specifically to the students mentioned in the stimulus, so even though a student would deter from cheating on knowing that he would be discovered, but this General fact has no effect on the inference which has to depend on the logical inference of the stimulus.

Similarily in (B) and (C) these statements could be true in general world, but provide no inference what so ever based on the stimulus.

(E) Falls out of scope as there is no mention of comparing the methods of cheating prevention between 2 professors.

(D) is correct, as it correctly writes in simple words the gist of the stimulus which can be deciphered from the last statement of the stimulus. and necessarily has to be true for the conclusion to stay.

Vishwa25 · Answer

+1 D

In the inference question the correct answer must only contain data from the argument. Another way of saying this is that the correct answer can be a paraphrase of the premise. Option "D" here is the paraphrase of the premise stated in the argument.

p2bhokie · Answer

Not entirely sure why 'A' is not right, I selected 'D' because it is more of a paraphrase of the statements in the argument and 'A' sounds a little too firm (A student would  only  be deterred)...Maybe a Verbal expert can come to the rescue...

adymehta29 · Answer

I do not completely agree with option  D .

Option D says : The math teacher needs to make students aware about the policy and the consequences.

BUT  the passage clearly says that to attain the teachers goal 2 things are needed:

1 the students had to believe that the consequences for cheating were severe 
 2 the professor had the means to discover cheaters and enforce the punishment against them.

option D doesn't relate to point 2.
so, i think option A is better answer choice.

EXPERTS PLS HELP.

Thank you.

pate13 · Answer

Remember that absolute language is almost always incorrect on CR questions!

cliff1127 · Answer

Adding on to why (A) is incorrect - one of the goals for the professor is have classroom honesty. That certainly would be one thing that might deter students from cheating and thus, 'being discovered and punished' isn't the only thing

ShashankDave · Answer

What's the source? A and D are closer than they should be. While I agree that D qualifies as an answer, I don't see why A doesn't. The stimulus tells us that for the atmosphere to prevail, the students have to believe that punishments are there and that THE PROFESSOR HAS THE MEANS TO DISCOVER CHEATERS.

Now, D does say that the professor will make students aware of the consequences, but tells us nothing about whether students would believe that they would be discovered while cheating, and thus, even after knowing the professor's policies, may cheat on the exam not knowing that they will be caught.

Option A clearly states that the students will know that they would be discovered and punished. I don't really think that this is good quality question. Experts, please comment.
Request  mikemcgarry  to chip in.

IanStewart · Answer

I agree that this is not a good question. The writing is nothing like that of a real GMAT CR question (the first sentence doesn't really make sense, and you'd never see a cliché like "would make students think twice or even three times" in an official question). And all of the answer options are logically problematic. It doesn't make much sense to even discuss low-quality questions like this, since there often is no good justification for the correct answer.

Mahmud6 · Answer

D

Fear of punishment and corresponding loss of privileges deters students from cheating. So, why they fear? They will fear if they believe the consequences of cheating. So, how they will develop such belief? Such belief will be developed if they are informed about the consequences of cheating. So, if a teacher wants to prevail this situation in classroom, the teachers should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences.

ZNLove · Answer

A is wrong because it does not say that punishment is harsh. Maybe the student knew he/she could be punished, but the punishment wasn't considered to be a big deal....

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

A conclusion for this argument is requested. In order to accurately assess his students on exams, the professor desires to eliminate cheating from his classroom. He believes that a tough policy on cheating will deter students from cheating. Therefore, he is more likely to reach his goal if he announces his policy on cheating and makes it known that he will track down cheaters and punish them.  The answer is (D).

ashutosh_73 · Answer

I don't think it is a LSAT question. I have checked. If someone can, please remove the LSAT tag

Paras96 · Answer

The passage discusses the math professor's belief that fear of punishment and loss of privileges would deter students from cheating. Let's evaluate the answer choices in light of this information:

(A) A student would only be deterred from cheating if he knew he would be discovered and punished.
 - This inference aligns with the professor's belief that consequences for cheating should be severe and enforced, which would make students think twice before cheating.

(B) A student will not cheat on an exam if he feels he is well prepared for the exam.
 - This option is not directly supported by the passage. The professor's emphasis is on fear of punishment, not on students' feelings of preparedness.

(C) A student who cheats on an exam believes that he will not be able to pass the exam without cheating.
 - This option is not directly supported by the passage. While the professor's beliefs center around consequences and enforcement, the passage doesn't explicitly state that cheaters believe they can't pass without cheating.

(D) If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.
 - This is a valid inference, as the passage implies that the professor's goals require students to believe in the severity of the consequences.

(E) If the professor wants never to have an incident of cheating in his classroom, his policy on cheating must be stronger than any other professor’s policy on cheating.
 - This inference goes beyond what the passage states. The professor's focus is on creating an atmosphere of fear of punishment, not necessarily on having the strictest policy.

Based on the information in the passage, the most properly inferred statement is:

(D) If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.

Ayushi0002 · Answer

I chose A because D doesn't state that the student would know if they can be discovered, and being discoverable if they cheat is one of the things that would prohibit them from doing so. While in the official answer stated by Bunuel says that they would know of the consequences as well as the fact that he will track down the cheaters and punish them, I don't see that being comprehended from option D. Can someone help?

Also, Is this a LSAT question for sure?

Also, Is this a LSAT question for sure?

PSKhore · Answer

Analyzing the passage:
 
The passage states two main conditions for the professor's goal of virtually eliminating cheating:

1. Students must believe the consequences of cheating are severe.
2. Students must believe the professor can detect cheaters and enforce the punishment. 
 
The professor believes that the fear of punishment, based on these two conditions, will deter students from cheating.

Evaluating the options:

(A)  A student would only be deterred from cheating if he knew he would be discovered and punished.  
This statement uses the word "only," which creates an absolute claim. While the passage emphasizes the importance of students believing they will be discovered and punished for deterrence, it doesn't explicitly state that this is the only factor deterring students from cheating. Students could have other reasons, such as a strong moral code, for not cheating.

(B)  A student will not cheat on an exam if he feels he is well prepared for the exam.  
The passage doesn't mention student preparedness as a factor in cheating or deterrence.

(C)  A student who cheats on an exam believes that he will not be able to pass the exam without cheating.  
The passage does not discuss the motivations of students who choose to cheat. It focuses on the deterrent effect of punishment.

(D)  If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.  This statement aligns with the passage's emphasis that "the students had to believe that the consequences for cheating were severe and that the professor had the means to discover cheaters and enforce the punishment against them." Making students aware of the policy and consequences would reinforce this belief and therefore contribute to the professor's goals.

(E)  If the professor wants never to have an incident of cheating in his classroom, his policy on cheating must be stronger than any other professor’s policy on cheating.  
The passage does not claim that the professor desires never to have an incident of cheating, only to "virtually eliminat  cheating". It also doesn't state that the policy must be stronger than any other professor's. The focus is on the severity of the consequences and the students' belief in their enforcement, not a comparison to other policies.

Conclusion
 
Option (D) is the most logically inferred conclusion from the passage. The passage emphasizes that students need to believe in the severity of the consequences and the professor's ability to enforce them for the deterrence to be effective. Making students aware of the policy and its consequences directly contributes to establishing this belief and thus to the professor's stated goal of reducing cheating

Source: AI Overview

Advait01 · Answer

(D) is correct, as it correctly writes in simple words the gist of the stimulus which can be deciphered from the last statement of the stimulus. and necessarily has to be true for the conclusion to stay.

SomyaMBA2025 · Answer

I do not agree with the language - 'If the professor wants to achieve his goals', this is more of a suggestion than inference, if it was rephrased in a different way to reflect inference then this will definitely be the top choice.

guddo · Answer

The math professor’s goals for classroom honesty and accurate student assessment were founded upon his belief that the fear of punishment and corresponding loss of privileges would make students think twice or even three times before cheating on exams, thus virtually eliminating cheating in his classroom. In order for this atmosphere to prevail, the students had to believe that the consequences for cheating were severe and that the professor had the means to discover cheaters and enforce the punishment against them.
 
 If the statements contained in the preceding passage are true, which one of the following can be properly inferred?

The passage says the professor wants to deter cheating through fear of punishment. For that to work, students must believe two things: cheating brings serious consequences, and  the professor can actually catch cheaters and enforce those consequences . So the proper inference is about making students aware of that policy and its enforcement.

(A) A student would only be deterred from cheating if he knew he would be discovered and punished.

This is too strong. The passage does not say a student must know with certainty that he would be caught. It only says students must believe the professor has the means to discover cheaters and punish them.

(B) A student will not cheat on an exam if he feels he is well prepared for the exam.

This is unsupported. The passage says nothing about preparation level.

(C) A student who cheats on an exam believes that he will not be able to pass the exam without cheating.

This is also unsupported. A student may cheat for many reasons, and the passage does not limit it to that one.

(D) If the professor wants to achieve his goals, he should make his students aware of his policy on cheating and the consequences that would befall those who cheat on his exams.

This can be properly inferred.  If students must believe  that the punishment is severe and enforceable, then the professor should make them aware of the policy and consequences so that deterrence can work.

(E) If the professor wants never to have an incident of cheating in his classroom, his policy on cheating must be stronger than any other professor’s policy on cheating.

This is unsupported. The passage does not compare his policy with anyone else’s.

Answer: (D)

The math professor’s goals for classroom honesty and accurate student

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The math professor’s goals for classroom honesty and accurate student

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